Simel Esim

Biography

Simel Esim is Programme Manager (Senior Technical Specialist) at the Enterprises Department of the International Labour Office. In that capacity, she leads the ILO’s work on cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy. Earlier, she was Senior Gender Specialist at the Regional Office for Arab States, where she led the work on gender equality, transition from the informal to the formal economy, and decent work for domestic workers.

Before joining the ILO, Ms. Esim worked as an economist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), and the World Bank. She has written extensively on gender equality, decent work, migration, economic organizing, and the informal economy. Her recent works include a co-edited book, Cooperatives and the World of Work (2019 Routledge).

She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the American University, Washington, D.C, an M.A. in International Economics and Middle East Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a B.A. in Political Science from Boğaziçi University. Simel speaks Turkish and English, and has working knowledge of Italian and Arabic. She is a beginner in Spanish and French.

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